A man from Alabama has filed a medical malpractice claim against doctors he
says removed his penis without his consent during a routine circumcision

Like all surgical procedures, major or minor, circumcision carries a certain amount of risk.

According to the NHS website, complications arising from circumcision, although rare, include "bleeding and infection", "a decrease in sensation in the penis, particularly during sex", blood poisoning and damage to the urethra. But as procedures go, it's pretty safe.

However, this will provide little comfort to Johnny Lee Banks Jr, a 56-year old from Birmingham, Alabama, who went to hospital last month for a routine circumcision, only to awaken to find his penis had been amputated.

According to the Birmingham News, Alabama, earlier this week Mr Banks filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Princeton Baptist Medical Center, in which he claims he wasn't warned the procedure carried a risk that he would lose his penis, and that he never gave his consent for a full or partial amputation.

However, the doctors who treated Mr Banks have dismissed the claims as false.